President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he’s decided not to send a “surge” of National Guard troops to San Francisco, after local officials requested the opportunity to handle the situation themselves.
“The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I told him I think he is making a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the Law does not permit him to remove,” Trump explained. “I told him, ‘It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer but, let’s see how you do?’”
The president credited local officials and citizens for their efforts and said he believes the city has a bright future ahead.
“The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject,” Trump continued.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social 10.23.25 01:03 PM EST pic.twitter.com/1m0waJfQ2e
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) October 23, 2025
“Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others have called saying that the future of San Francisco is great. They want to give it a ‘shot.’ Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”
This news comes after Trump scored a major legal victory this week in his ongoing fight with Democratic city leaders over federalizing National Guard troops.
Should Trump continue sending federal law enforcement resources to major cities?
The California-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — which is traditionally very liberal — rejected a review of a ruling by one of its panels that was in favor of Trump over California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
A three-judge panel had initially stayed a restraining order issued against the Trump administration by District Judge Charles Breyer, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton.
Breyer had ruled that Trump acted unconstitutionally by seizing control of the California Guard to deal with issues related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles.
Trump is also fighting battles over troop deployment in Illinois and Oregon.
Just days before the California ruling, another panel on the 9th Circuit voted 2-1 to lift a stay issued by another judge, which prevented Trump from taking control of the National Guard in Oregon.
These legal wins could pave the way for Trump to deploy troops to Chicago, where he has faced major pushback from Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.
The Trump administration already asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to intercede in the Illinois case due to “violent resistance against the enforcement of federal immigration laws” and issues with rioters assaulting federal officers.
The submission to the high court also cited a multi-car convoy that “ambushed and rammed into a DHS vehicle and tried to run over one of the occupants, while criminal gangs and transnational cartels have placed five-figure bounties on the heads of DHS personnel.”
The federal government argued that state and local officials have “not only failed to provide sufficient assistance to restrain and deter such violence, but fanned the flames of hostility by slandering DHS agents as rogue vigilantes and jackbooted thugs.”
With Trump’s legal victories in the lower courts — and a 6-3 conservative SCOTUS majority — it’s likely the executive branch will be given more authority regarding troop deployment, but only time will tell.
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